March 11, 2011

That ultimate Cactus League grade for Quentin won’t come from results, which have him holding at a dismal-looking .136 average through Friday’s personal off-day. For Quentin, it’s about dealing with the negative moments even when they don’t count on his resume.

“To be honest, I’m really paying attention to, how do I say this, how I respond to whatever happens out there,” Quentin said. “That’s something I’ve planned on the offseason to work on.

“So I want to maintain a level head, just maintain a relaxed feeling out here. It’s been pretty good. There have been a couple of days where I resorted back to frustration. But I want to say that I’m making some progress there. From this point, I want to monitor how my mindset is on a day-to-day basis.”

As far as Quentin’s swing progress, the deep-thinking right fielder said he has been working with hitting coach Greg Walker with a purpose in order to clean some things up. Walker pointed to looking for a lower-effort swing for Quentin and getting consistent with posture and body position.

“There’s a trust involved,” Quentin said. “[Walker] sees stuff I can’t see, and I go to work on them. The at-bats have been better. Contact has been better.”

Major production hasn’t been there for Quentin, who has three singles in 22 at-bats. But those struggles actually might provide better regular-season preparation for Quentin than hitting safely in almost every at-bat. Quentin understands he isn’t perfect, and there will be the occasional bat slam after missing a pitch he should have hit.

“Really, it’s about the five minutes right after that,” Quentin said. “Maintain a good mindset to go out there and compete and have the best chance to succeed in the next opportunity.

“It’s always easy to handle good results. The key is to handle the ones that aren’t so optimistic and move on from there to have the best chance for good results the next day.”